An Age Old Problem
by Dark Ice Dragon
Summary: ·TLA Boktai crossover· ·PostTLA· There have been strange happenings in Weyard. New monsters are appearing, earthquakes. Then that boy appears. He says he's from a place called 'San Miguel' and he seems to be using... different Psynergy from the norm.
1. New Problems

_And I'm back with another weird crossover. This time with Boktai2: Solar Boy Django. It's a game about a Vampire hunter and you use real UV light (AKA sunlight) to continue through the game. Very brief summary of it.  
_

_Black Django is another name for Vampire Boy Django. You can kinda guess what he is now huh? Black Django's original form is Solar Boy Django or Red Django. _

_A Crimson Monster is a monster that is a really strong monster; it's about four times stronger than the regular ones. _

_In Boktai, if you die you can give money (or Soll)so that you can start the dungeon again in the same room that you died and so all the puzzle solving you did isn't all wasted. The person who you give the Soll to is Doomy. _

_Hopefully Django will explain everything else for me. _

_Oh, and there won't be any romance in this fic _

_So, enjoy. _

_

* * *

_

**An Age Old Problem**

By Dark Ice Dragon

New Problems_  
_

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* * *

_

_'Okay, this isn't good.'_ Black Django _knew_ that he should have brought more healing items. He'd thought that since he'd gone through the Catacombs so many times without problems, this time would be the same.

But of course, it's never easy.

He'd been unlucky enough to run into a Crimson Monster about half-way though and that had been helped by the regular monsters blocking off his exit. And now, he was caught in a pincer movement between two Cockatrice and they kept on re-Petrifying him whenever he shook himself free.

He could feel his life depleting as the fight continued. _'Great. Doomy's going to be making some money today.' _

As the feeling of acceptance for this fact started to take over, Django could feel a new emotion arising: rage. At the same time he felt his life draining down to half of what little there was left.

But this time, the beserker rage was different. He could feel the Dark Matter enveloping his form - so much so that the black-red Moonlight Magic was visible. That was normal. What _wasn't_ normal was that there had never been a shadow in front of him before. Below him, yes, but not in front of him.

Flapping his wings, Django flew straight towards it, still in the rage that came with receiving too much damage. The beserker rage that had taken over him didn't leave him with the logic to stay away and he only needed to take a few steps before reaching the shadow.

He passed thought it and nearly crashed into a tree that appeared out of nowhere.

Django didn't have enough time to wonder at how he had suddenly transported himself from inside to outside because all that was consuming his mind was that he was out in the _Sun_ and he was _burning_.

He had just enough energy left to transform back into Red Django before he fainted.

:-:-:

Piers looked at each of Vale's elders in turn. "I'm not sure I understand."

Garet's grandfather rubbed his hands together slowly. "You have noticed that there have been new monsters appearing over the last few months." Piers nodded to the statement. So too had the other Adepts. "There have been rumours of dead people walking at night. And now, there was that earthquake that happened yesterday."

"It was only a small tremor," Piers said doubtfully, remembering the brief panic that had ensued afterwards. No-one had been hurt thankfully and the ones that had were seen to quickly be Mia, Piers and Jenna.

"From the retelling of Isaac's and Felix's adventures, the last time they had experienced an earthquake was when Venus Lighthouse had been lit."

"You haven't thought that this is natural?" Piers asked, his head tilting slightly.

"No," Garet's grandfather disagreed as he shook his head. "Vale has never suffered from earthquakes before."

There was a brief silence before Piers spoke again. "Will you tell me why you required me to be here?"

The elders glanced at each other and then at Garet's grandfather. It was he who replied to Piers' question. "It's because we wanted to know if you knew of any myths or legends that had any warnings like this."

The Lemurian shook his head after a small pause. "If I had noticed any similarities, I would have informed you straight away. I'm sorry that I couldn't help." It felt strange to Piers that he was the elder here in the village, when before, in Lemuria, he may not have been a child but he was certainly not the eldest. To be asked about his knowledge and expertise... It was a still a new experience - even though he had been countlessly asked questions (including his age) during his travels with the other Adepts.

"No, it's not your fault," was the response from one of them. "Thank you for your time."

Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, Piers stood up from his chair and left the room.

He would have a lot to think about.

:-:-:

Ivan brushed the tree branch away from his face as he walked past it. What he was doing was patrolling around Vault in case the new monsters appeared. They had been turning up steadily over the last couple of months and they were starting to worry the locals. Not just the locals - Ivan knew that the other Adepts were getting wary of how quickly the new monsters were coming.

It wasn't just because they were a different kind that hadn't been seen before but because nothing seemed to have an affect on them. If the new monsters were attacked physically, they brushed it off as if it was nothing.

Only Psynergy seemed to work.

And that was only marginally better.

The monsters didn't seem to have any weaknesses to their Psynergy. Were they a new breed of monsters that came with the unleashing of Alchemy? If that was the case, what else would come from the lighting of the Lighthouses? Was what Kraden had said before true? Weyard was now fed with Alchemy but was it at the cost of the effects that came with stronger Alchemy?

Ivan stopped both his thoughts and walking when he realised that there was a strange smell in the air: a burnt smell. There had to be a monster nearby. Pulling out his Phaenton's Blade for if or when he was attacked, Ivan started to slowly go towards where the smell was the strongest. He then saw someone laid out on the ground, slightly obscured by the trees. From his point of view, all he could see was a pair of legs.

"Hello? Excuse me, you shouldn't be here; it isn't safe," he said as he neared the person, wondering at how someone could be around when that foul stench was in the air. Reaching him, Ivan frowned when he saw that the stranger was sleeping. He then noticed that he was wearing a red scarf like Isaac did -though the knot was behind him and not to his side- along with, for some reason, thick armor that only covered his right arm but not on his left as well as a thin armour vest.

Before the strangeness of his clothes registered with Ivan, he took in the gashes, the stones that seemed to be stuck onto his clothes, the singes and the blood.

The boy wasn't sleeping - he was unconscious.

Thanking the fact that he had the Teleport Lapis on him, Ivan ran up to the boy (making sure that there were no monsters about to jump out first) and after making sure that he had physical contact with the boy, he teleported to Vale.

:-:-:

Red Django groaned softly when he moved and felt himself waking up. He could really do with an earthly nut. Even a healer would do.

Turning his head at the sound of something moving, Django saw through blurred eyes a fuzzy blue blob. "Lita?"

The question brought a small chuckle. He couldn't identify the voice. "I'm sorry, I'm not Lita. My name is Mia."

"Mee... ah?" Django repeated slowly, shaking his head to clear it. He knew no-one by that name. She couldn't be from San Miguel. So then, where was he?

"Yes," the person confirmed.

Eyes finally clear, Django looked at the woman properly. Ah. Definitely _not_ Lita. Not unless Lita had grown and dyed her hair blue while also changing her green eyes for blue ones.

"Oh, um, I thought you were someone I knew because she also wears a blue dress," Django explained.

Mia smiled. "That's alright."

Django looked around at the room around him and found that he didn't recognise anything. "Where am I?"

"You're in Vale; Ivan brought you here when he found you unconscious in a forest."

In a forest? The Forest in Tenth Avenue? That didn't make any sense. The last place he remembered being in was the Catacombs in Fourth Avenue.

And then the attacks by the Cockatrice. He'd gone into the beserker rage. And then finding himself outside in the Sun.

Why had he woken up in a bed instead of paying Doomy and starting over?

"Where are you from?" Mia asked him worriedly when he didn't explain how he ended up in the forest or had even given his own name.

"I'm from San Miguel," Django said distractedly. His head was feeling strangely lighter than normal. Lifting his hand to pat his hair to find what was missing, Django was surprised to feel his hair instead of the mask that was normally in place there. If that was gone... Django's next instinct was to feel around his neck.

His Crimson Scarf was gone as well.

Looking down at his right hand, Django realised that his Sol de Vice was also missing. He was starting to panic. It was just like when his Solar Gun had been stolen. This time, in addition to his solar weapon being stolen, his mask and his only memento of his father had been taken!

Noticing the look the boy had, Mia decided to ignore the strange statement he had just said for the moment. "It's okay, your things are right here." Mia motioned to a small pile in the corner that Django had overlooked. "I had them taken off because they would have been restricting you in your sleep."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Django swung his legs over the edge of the bed and was about to stand up when Mia's firm hand stopped him. "You're not getting up yet," she said firmly.

"Why not? I'm fine!" he protested.

"You don't have enough energy to be moving around."

Django looked at her confusedly. What did his solar energy have to do with his ability to move? Glancing out the window, he saw that the Sun was out and quite bright. If she was so worried about it he could just go outside and recharge. It shouldn't take too long either, considering just how bright it looked.

Misinterpreting his quick look outside the window, Mia sighed in exasperation. "I can't properly stop you but if you hurt yourself..." she warned, not feeling the need to actually say the rest of her threat.

"No, I won't be doing anything," Django assured her. "I just want to get my stuff and then I'll go back to sleep for a while." Again, he lamented the fact that he didn't have any healing items with him.

After putting everything into its proper place, Django sat back down on the bed heavily. His head was already spinning and everything seemed to have gotten brighter of its own accord. Mia had good reason to not want him to be up and about.

Laying himself down, Django closed his eyes, feeling the breeze that was coming from the window. It was comforting and he could already feel himself drift off.

"You still haven't told me your name," he heard her say.

"It's Django," he murmered.

Before he was completely asleep, Django heard the whispered word, "Ply" and then felt his body cool down. He knew that he had be asleep when he saw a blue Spirit Bug with a human form float above him.

:-:-:

Opening her eyes, Mia studied the slumbering boy in front of her.

_'Django must have hit his head at some point,'_ she thought in concern. There was no place in Weyard called San Miguel and there wasn't a place that sounded remotely like it.

His clothes dictated likewise. He was wearing some sort of short leggings and his footwear, Mia had never seen anything like them before. And then there was that white mark on his left cheek. As far as she could see, it wasn't paint so what was it? In her travels around Weyard Mia hadn't seen anyone with anything similar. The closest people she could think of off of the top of her head was the Kibombo tribe but their face paint was blue.

She looked up when she heard a knock at the door. Making sure that Django was sleeping peacfully, she quietly went to the door and opened it. It was Felix carrying a bowl of food for Django. Mia stepped back to let him through.

"Has he woken up yet?" Felix asked quietly as he put the bowl on the table.

Mia nodded. "He had just gone back to sleep before you came." Mia chewed her bottom lip anxiously.

Felix noticed this. "What's wrong? Is it about him?" he asked, nodding towards the boy.

"Yes," Mia said hesitantly. "I - I think he may be an Adept."

* * *

_Thou_g_h it may not look like it, I _have _planned something for this. Ish. I know generally what I'm doing but not what I'll be putting it. Too many ideas. _

_Any questions about Boktai? Just ask._

_I'm not too sure on my characterisation of the GS crew (Django has the same problem of never speaking as well) so if something doesn't seem right, tell me. _


	2. Conversations

_Spoilers for the ending of TLA (if you look closely at what's being said). _

_I seemed to just copy some scenes and then use them later in the chapters. (facepalm)_

_I'm making Django scared of water and not being able to swim because well, I know in games if you fall into water you die so that's my reason. Along with the fact that he gets hurt by it. _

_I'm also making him able to sense life and death like Otenko does because if he's a Solar Boy, he really should be able to do that -it just hasn't been shown because Otenko was the one who was doing it first. _

_Basically? I'm the author so I'm bending/adding to canon to fit with stuff. _

* * *

**An Age Old Problem**

By Dark Ice Drgaon

Conversations

* * *

Isaac was walking along the riverbank when he spotted Piers sitting there, staring at the water as it flowed by. Seeing that he seemingly wanted to be alone, Isaac wasn't sure if he should disturb him. Isaac had noticed that Piers had sometimes taken to being lost in thought recently. He suspected that the Lemurian was beginning to be homesick. To add to that, Vale was surrounded by mountains and, apart from the rivers, some distance away from the stretch of endless water that Piers had grown up in. Hence, why he was staring at the water: he was used to being surrounded by water and seeing it wherever he looked and so it would have been a source of comfort for him and it reminded him of home. Not to mention, he was a Mercury Adept as well. It was expected. 

Isaac sighed quietly before looking up to the sky. There were few clouds up there and there was little wind, leaving to a hot day. Maybe it was time to go travelling again. After running around Weyard trying to stop the lighting of the Lighthouses to then running around Weyard trying to light them, Isaac in the very least had grown accustomed to always being on the move. He wasn't sure of the others' opinion but Isaac felt like he would take the next chance he could to leave Vale.

It wasn't that he disliked being in Vale or anything like that but after seeing so many new places such as Tolbi and the Lighthouses, Vale seemed so... small.

But then there was the problem with the new monsters. If Isaac left and brought his friends with him, who would be left to protect Vale and Vault with Psynergy? Isaac's, Felix's and Jenna's parents along with the priests in the Sanctum at least, but would that be enough? The former already had a boost in their Psynergy from their unnatural fusing as the Doom Dragon and with the unleashing of Alchemy in the world, it would have been more than enough. A large portion of Vale were Adepts - none to the degree that Isaac was used to but still, it should have been enough. Except the monsters were hardly affected by it.

So, was it wise to be selfish and leave when there was a chance people could get hurt because of that?

_'But,'_ a voice interrupted, '_if it's happening here, is it happening somewhere else as well? In a place that doesn't have Adepts? We _have_ to help!'_

"Will you be standing there staring at the sky all day?" a voice cut through Isaac's thoughts. Snapping his head back down and hand automatically sliding down for the Gaia Blade that wasn't there, Isaac blinked when his "attacker" was none-other than Piers.

Oops. Isaac gave the amused man a sheepish grin. "Too used to being surprised by wild animals and attacking instinctively I guess."

Piers nodded in understanding. "Old habits are hard to break."

He couldn't help it. He'd heard them saying it before and it was just too good an opportunity to pass. "And how many decades or centuries have _your_ old habits lasted?" he asked with a lopsided smile.

:-:-:

Jenna tutted as she watched Garet being fussed over by the priest. His response to this was to laugh embarrassedly and to lift one arm to rub the back of his neck - which was smartly smacked down.

"Really, you didn't _have_ to go through that patch of _poisonous_ flowers _just_ to retrieve Arthur's toy," she chided with no anger in her voice - just exasperation.

Garet shrugged. "It's his favourite and I didn't think there was any point in him going back to his house to get another one to play with." Far too used to visiting the Sanctum after spending the day training, being cursed, haunted or poisoned, Garet knew exactly what the priest wanted him to do. Going through the familiar motions, Garet continued. "I didn't think I'd be affected by the poison this badly though."

Jenna sighed. Always helping (in his own way) and never minding if he was the one who was hurt.

"There," the priest said finally. "The poison has been purged from your system."

Both Garet and Jenna nodded and smiled in appreciation. Slipping himself off the bed, Garet had to suddenly grab hold of Jenna's shoulder to stop himself stumbling.

"Be careful, you'll still be feeling the symptoms of the poison for a while," the priest warned.

"_Now_ you tell me."

Jenna shifted her weight so that Garet would get more support from her. Garet turned to her in surprise.

"Jenna? I don't think..." He was silenced by the look she gave him. He knew what she would be like if he didn't let her.

Jenna grumbled mentally. The reason why she had taken Garet to the priests in the Sanctum instead of Piers or Mia was because Piers was -or had been- in a meeting with the elders while Mia was looking after the boy that Ivan had found. She snorted when she realised that she had been spoiled by the easy healing the Mercury Adepts had and expected everyone else to be the same.

Hearing the sound, Garet looked down. "What?"

"Nothing," Jenna said, brushing the question away. "I may as well look after you to make sure you don't fall down the stairs."

"Hey!"

:-:-:

Felix's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? What kind?"

"I'm not sure."

He moved his head in a certain way, silently asking Mia to continue. She worried her lip again before she started.

"Well, he hasn't used any psynergy yet -and if he had tried to, I would have stopped him- but when I was healing him, it was harder to do than if I was healing a normal person."

"Like he was resisting the psynergy?" Felix prodded.

Mia nodded, her eyes sliding to the boy once more. "It almost felt like I was healing an Adept. Not as strong as one of us though," she mused. "It was like I was healing Justin when he was younger."

"Justin. He's your-"

"Apprentice in Imil, yes. One of two."

"Okay. Are there any other reasons?"

Again, Mia nodded. "Yes. Just before he fell asleep, I cast _Ply_ on him; he looked like he was in pain. I didn't think he would notice but he did, I'm sure of it.

"He didn't seem surprised either. I mean," Mia frowned, "he seemed surprised to see it but not in a 'this is the first time I've seen this' kind of way."

"So you think he's been in contact with Mercury Adepts before," Felix concluded. He looked at the sleeping boy. The boy had blond hair (it was a lighter shade than Isaac's, Ivan's or Sheba's) and without knowing his eye colour yet, guessing what type of Adept he was would be hard as that was usually some indicator.

"He wasn't startled by my blue hair. That might have been because he was just gaining consciousness though," Mia added.

"We'll just have to wait for him to wake up to find out."

"Hmm," Mia agreed.

:-:-:

Django sighed when he woke up. So he was still in the unfamiliar room. And where exactly _was_ this room anyway? Having been in all the houses in San Miguel, he had never seen one house that was made from wood. Even when he had gone to Istrakan, he hadn't seen any houses of any kind on his way to and from there. If he had, they weren't inhabited either.

Standing up carefully, he was happy to find that he didn't become dizzy like the last time he had stood up and moved around.

Checking himself over, Django realised that he really _did_ have to recharge his sol energy. He must have used up more energy fighting the Cockatrice than he thought he had. It was either that, or he hadn't been resting as long as he had thought he had been.

Pushing the door open, he found himself in another, more spacious room. There was a door to his left that he went to straight away.

Django blinked at the bright spots that swam into his view as the Sun momentarily blinded him. Very bright, hot Sun, he observed. It wouldn't take him too long to recharge his sol energy then; it wouldn't take him too long to overheat either.

The Solar Boy turned his head at the sound of laughter. The voices sounded young but also male - it couldn't have been Violet. He was stunned to see a small group of children heading towards him. A _group_.

Looking wildly around him, Django saw that there were more people around him and he recognised none of them.

"Master Otenko? Where are we?" he asked quietly, waiting for his guide to appear. He didn't. "...Master Otenko?" Django worriedly reached out with his senses, trying to find the aura of his friend that he was so familar with and found... nothing.

No. Wait. Django's eyes widened. He found _life_. There was barely a feeling of Dark Matter or the Undeading curse. Where was this place that had escaped the Undeading curse of the Dark Immortals?

He was about to call Master Otenko again out of instinct when he remembered that he wasn't there. He couldn't have done anywhere. The only time that he had left Django was when he had been sealed away by Sabata, sealed into Nero and when he was watching over Sabata as he completed his transformation into a Moon Beauty. Master Otenko had always been with him after their first meeting together so what had happened to him?

His senses of life and death still extended, Django felt a glimmer of familiarity. His breath hitched. That couldn't be right, it wasn't possible, there shouldn't be one here... How was there a fully-grown Solar Tree _here_?

Django ran towards where his senses told him.

:-:-:

Sheba was watching over some of the children play a game while she sat in the sun. _'Really,'_ she thought, tilting her head to the sky, _'it's too hot. Maybe if I cast a small _Whirlwind_ it wouldn't be so bad. Or I could just find Mia or Piers and ask them to make some ice.'_

She looked to the side when she heard a door slam shut. It was the boy that Ivan had found -Jango was it?- in the forest. He probably shouldn't be out of bed yet and since Mia wasn't stalking after him, she didn't know that he was up.

Sheba watched as Django noticed the children before wondering why he looked so surprised and then he mouthed something to himself. His surprise then turned to wonder and Sheba could feel Psynergy being used. She didn't know what kind though; it felt like it was running under her feet so that meant that he was a Venus Adept. But it wasn't any kind that she had seen Isaac or Felix use. It was like _Growth_ on a larger scale but staring at the grass showed that they were unaffected. Or maybe they were and it just wasn't visible to the human eye, she thought suspiciously.

For no apparent reason, the boy ran off in the direction of the town entrance.

Looking back to the children (they'd be fine and it wasn't as if she was babysitting them or anything) Sheba decided to follow the boy. He was probably going to trip over something soon and she'd have to drag him back to Mia's house. She would _not_ be pleased at that.

:-:-:

Django could feel the energy that the Solar Tree was giving off the closer he got to it. It was strong; stronger than the one in San Miguel. How much sol energy had to have been collected for it to grow so much?

Jumping down stairs two at a time, Django knew that he was in the presence of a Solar Tree but he couldn't see it. Around him were trees that showed the boundaries of the area around him but there were none old enough to be the Solar Tree.

There was that really large rock though.

Surrounded by a moat.

Django eyed the water. He didn't completely _hate_ water per se but he disliked it at least. He didn't like it before since he couldn't swim but now that he was half-Vampire, he had a natural aversion to it as he got hurt if he stepped onto a puddle as Black Django.

He _had_ to know though. Even if he had to wait until night to transform into Black Django to fly over it. Glancing at the sky showed that that wouldn't happen for at least another three hours.

Walking slowly towards the shining rock, Django couldn't help but stare in awe of it. It was nothing that he had ever seen before and he couldn't think of anything that he'd encountered that compared with it. The closest thing that he could come up was were the Seals that had sealed the Immortals away except this was less refined. It had smooth sides but it wasn't in a rectangular shape like the Seals.

When he reached the edge of the moat, Django could see a stepping stone the lead from the edge to the island from the other side that he was standing on. He hesitated; he could use them to jump across - he wouldn't get hurt as he was Red Django at the moment and not Black. Peering into the moat's depths, Django was fairly sure that he'd be able to stand up from the bottom if he _did_ fall in.

Nodding to himself, he walked to the edge where the stepping stone was. The stone was wet, his mind noted. If it was wet, he'd fall in. _'And then I could just wade through the water,_' Django thought stubbornly. He was _going_ to find out what that rock was even if he had to cross over water to do it.

Readying himself, he hopped onto the stepping stone. He didn't slip _that_ much. Gaining confidence from that, he jumped onto the island that the rock was on.

He gazed up at it in wonder. It was so completely... alien to him. Having the sudden childish urge to touch it, Django placed his palm onto a large smooth area in front of him.

He took a step back almost instantly while snapping his hand away at the same time, wide-eyed and heart racing. What was _that_? He'd touched it and then there was a sudden rush of energy that flooded through his body.

Looking at the hand that he'd put onto the rock, Django couldn't believe that all the sol energy that he had lost was replenished completely. How -

"So you know how to use a psynergy stone then," Django heard someone say behind him.

Whipping himself around, Django saw a girl with blonde hair and... purple eyes? A trick of the light. "A sai-nare-jay stone?" Django said, repeating the unfamiliar word. "Is that what this is?" he asked, gesturing to the rock behind him.

The girl nodded. "Yep. They're not all like this though - quite a lot of psynergy stones are small, purple and can fit into the palm of the hand." She held her hand palm-up as an indication.

Django paused, running through everything he could remember. "No," he said while shaking his head. "I've never seen that or anything like this before in my life."

Here, the girl frowned slightly. "But the way you went up and touched it, it showed that you know what it did."

"I don't," Django said helplessly. "There was just so much sol energy coming from it... I - I had to touch it." He shook his head. "I didn't know that it would give me back my energy that way that it did."

"Sol energy?" the girl repeated blankly. "You could feel the energy coming from the psynergy stone all the way from Mia's house?" she asked, changing the subject before Django could answer.

"Yeah. Um, do you mind?" Django asked as he stood on the edge of the island.

"Mind what? Oh, right, sorry," the girl took a few steps back to allow the Solar Boy room to land when he reached the other side.

Django jumped onto the stepping stone. And slipped.

_Splash_.

* * *

_I really need to get a better sounding title. _

_Eh, last part is meant to be a sort of comedic effect , just so ya know. _


	3. Reaction

I sorta made Django able to summon his weapons by magic because in Boktai 2, he has the choice of using a gun, a sword, a lance, and a hammer. The lance can get very long and the picture you get when he's using the hammer ... the handle itself would probably reach his hip along. So yeeeah, he's not going to be able to carry them all at the same time.

:) First time I've written a fight scene.

Don't you just love misunderstandings with the same words? ;)

* * *

**An Age Old Problem**

By Dark Ice Dragon

Reaction

* * *

Sheba cringed. Sometimes she wished that she had the Hover Jem. Not that that would have done any good in her current situation but she still wanted it. 

Django was being unsteadily helped back onto firm land with Sheba being the one to pull him up. She was gingerly holding his hand because that armour looked it would hurt if she got any skin caught in the joints.

"I _hate_ water," she heard him mumble.

"Why?" Sheba asked curiously, watching him as he wrung water out of his hair.

Django glanced up at her question. So she wasn't supposed to hear that then. "I don't know how to swim," he answered. "And after I was-" he stopped abruptly.

"And after you were...?" Sheba repeated expectantly.

He shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

Sheba gave him a doubtful look. She considered using _Mind Read_ on him but, since he was an Adept, he'd notice straight away. Ugh, what was she thinking? He'd probably had a really traumatic experience with water or something like that. And it wasn't as if she absolutely had to know did she? "Hmm, okay."

After basking in the sun for a while and Django was only half dry when he stood up and started to walk away.

"Django? Where are you going?"

He turned around. "If I stay out in the sun for too long, my weapons overheat."

Sheba looked at him confusedly. "If you stay out in the sun too long, your _weapons_ overheat?" she repeated. "How does that happen?"

Django reached up with his left arm and scratched the white mark on his cheek. "I'm a solar boy," he said, as if that explained everything.

Sheba blinked. A what? Was that what they called Adepts where he came from? "I don't get it."

It was Django's turn to stare. "I'm a solar boy; my father was Red Ringo," he elaborated. It still didn't make any sense.

"Ahm, no, I've never heard of either." Was she supposed to? It sounded like she was supposed to know as soon as he had said his father's name.

Django looked stunned. "You've never heard... What about vampires - immortals?" he listed off.

She shook her head. "Werewolves, yes. But vampires... I don't really know much about them or seen one."

A shrewd look from him. "If you'd seen one, you wouldn't be alive."

"So... vampires exist?" Sheba said, trying to make him explain some more.

"Yeah." Django turned away. "I - I think I need to go now."

Sheba watched as the boy walked away from her dejectedly, not sure if she follow.

:-:-:

Ivan bumped into Mia as he was walking about Vale. Seeing her annoyed look, Ivan asked her what was wrong.

"It's that boy you found - he left and I can't find him anywhere."

"I haven't seen him," Ivan remarked, trying to remember if he had seen that red scarf while wandering Vale. It was the most distinctive piece of clothing on on the boy and not a lot of people in Vale wore that shade of red.

Mia sighed. "Knowing my luck he's fallen somewhere and gotten himself hurt again." She scowled in Ivan's direction. "Why must you always prove that you're okay before you're healed properly?"

"Hey!" Ivan objected. "I stayed in bed like you told me to when I was hurt!"

"Okay, I'm sorry," Mia apologised, rubbing the sides of her forehead. "I'm just fed up with that happening and I'm taking it out on you."

"It's okay," Ivan assured her. "Do you want me to help search for him?" he asked.

Mia smiled in thanks. "I would appreciate it."

:-:-:

It couldn't be true. It _couldn't_.

Django climbed over the fence that was blocking his way. From what he could see, people weren't allowed to go through to that place that he was going to if the large boulder was any indication.

He needed to be alone.

Jogging up the path, Django saw a cave. Well, he'd found the reason why people were barred; it probably wasn't safe to enter. There was some debris around the cave entrance that looked like they hadn't been touched in some time.

He _was_ alone.

He felt the sudden change as he stepped from Sun to shadow. It was dark, damp and he could hear the scratching of claws on stone. It smelled of unclean water.

No-one was here.

Leaning on the cool wall and tilting his head back as well, he slid down it until he was sitting down.

No-one he knew.

The scratching was getting closer and the temperature was dropping even more noticeably. What did it matter. He'd dealt with monsters before; he'd probably need some sort of outlet soon when he realised what had been said.

This was a dream.

Closing his eyes, Django listened to the water as it dripped onto the ground. The breeze was swirling and becoming stronger. The scratching had stopped.

It had to be.

A loud squeak made Django open his eyes and stare at a strange looking blue mouse that was standing on its hind legs and wielding a fork a short distance away. Hovering next to it was a kind of Ghost that he had never seen before.

Django slowly stood up while also summoning his Astro Sword to his hand. They didn't look like Undeadened monsters (_'But there isn't any Undeadening curse here is there?'_) and if they left him alone, so would he. If they attacked him, assuming that the Ghost was that of Dark property, all he would have to do was go into the light and if it followed him it would die from the Sun. It shouldn't take him too long to handle the mouse either.

The mouse bared its teeth at him and leaped towards him. Django slashed at it, feeling it connect on the broadside of his sword and heard the mouse shriek in pain. He barely heard its body hit the ground before stumbling from being attacked by the Ghost. He dodged its next swipe (_'That can't be right. Ghosts absorb energy; they don't attack physically.'_) and backpedalled when he saw the mouse leap at him again.

He blocked the Ghost's next attack using his Sol de Vice and inwardly groaned briefly when it placed itself between him and the (sunny) exit.

Ghosts were the Dark element and he was a Solar Boy. Just because he couldn't get to the Sun, it didn't mean he couldn't use his Enchantments.

The mouse didn't leap this time - it attacked with its fork. Django parried it but the mouse had already jumped back when he tried to counterattack it.

Django Enchanted his Sol de Vice with the power of Sol and lunged at the Ghost.

Nothing.

Like his Astro Sword had no access to a Solar Station.

He yelped as he felt something latch on to his hip. Looking down showed that the mouse was still attached.

A swooshing sound.

Django replaced his Astro Sword for his Gun del Sol and blasted the approaching Ghost with Sol energy. He pointed it down and pulled the trigger once more.

But of course. Yet again, when he thought that something was going to be easy, it turned around and proved otherwise.

Limping out of the cave, Django inspected the wound. It didn't seem that deep but it was bleeding profusely. He bit his lip. There couldn't be an infection from that.

Better to be safe than sorry. If he could find someone, maybe they would have something to clean and bind the wound with.

Making his way back slowly, Django was focusing on the growing pain he was feeling as the adrenaline started to wear off. Was the bite poisonous?

He realised a small problem when he reached the fence: he couldn't climb over it. Not easily anyway; in the few minutes that had passed, his leg was already feeling stiff and heavy. It also hurt to move.

He sighed tiredly. Would he have to wait until someone found him again? It didn't seem like a lot of people passed through here - that was the entire point as he had wanted to be alone wasn't it? He had nothing to bind the wound with except from... his crimson scarf.

_'Even when it's rainin' cats an' dogs, a sunflower holds its head high,'_ Django heard Zazie's voice echo in his mind. She was right though. He untied his scarf and tied it around the bleeding wound. It was stupid to keep it open like it was when he had something that could help.

He'd get through this. He'd find out how and why he had gotten to this place and then he'd return _home_.

Now all he had to for was wait for someone to find him.

:-:-:

"You're impossible, you know that?"

Garet rolled his eyes. "I know that because you keep on telling me."

"You'll get hit by another dizzy spell and this time, I won't be used like a piece of furniture you can just conveniently grab hold of," Jenna sniped.

"I'll be _fine_. Really."

"Of course you will." Garet was walking ahead of Jenna while they bickered, his head turned back to look at her. "I don't get why you have to show that you're 'fine' by being an idiot."

"I'm not an idiot."

"Then why are you refusing my help?"

"I'm not! How can I refuse your help when I don't need it?"

Jenna's response was a glare. The glare slid down as something caught her eye. She gasped in surprise and ran past a confused Garet. He turned around to see a boy he had never seen before leaning on the wall next to the barrier near Kraden's house, apparently asleep.

"Hey, can you wake up?" Jenna nimbly hopped over the fencing and gently shook him.

"Ugh... what?" the boy said groggily as he woke up.

"Are you okay?" Garet asked in concern, leaning over the barrier.

A glance to his leg. Following his gaze, Garet saw a red bandage (that had a large excess of it not tied) and had darker wet patches where blood had soaked through.

"Can you take the bandage off for me?" Jenna gently asked the boy.

He nodded and took it off slowly, wincing every so often. When it was off completely, Garet could see where the blood had dried and stuck onto the bandage. With the bandage gone, the wound soon collected with the thick red liquid again.

Her hands hovering above the wound, Jenna murmured to the boy, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. _Aura_."

The boy's eyes widened and he attempted to scramble away when he saw Jenna's hands begin to glow red. Only Garet's hand stopped him from jerking his leg away from her. The boy looked up to him and Garet smiled at him to assure him. It seemed to work. The boy stared at Jenna's Psynergy until she had finished.

Once Jenna had done all that she could, she sat back and put her hands onto the grass. "I've done what I could but it would be better if Mia or Piers saw you as well."

The boy looked at his leg curiously, saw that the wound was nearly healed and then sharply looked up at Jenna. "How did you do that?" he blurted out.

She blinked at the strange question. "Psynergy, of course."

The boy's face had been pale from lack of blood (Garet assumed) then flushed. He looked away. "Um, I don't know what that is."

Jenna and Garet shared a look. "You're not from here are you?"

He shook his head.

"After Mia or Piers have treated you do you want to go home?" Jenna asked.

A nod. "I don't know how to though," he said quietly.

"It's okay," Jenna said gently. "We'll help you find it. Garet," -she glanced up to look at him- "can you help me to get him over?"

Garet nodded and braced himself for when the boy was placed onto his outstretched arms. He was surprisingly lighter than what Garet thought he would be - the main weight seemed to be that armour he wore on his right arm.

Turning around, Garet didn't put the boy down and didn't wait for Jenna either. He heard the slap of a palm on wood and then the soft crunch of grass underfoot as he walked away.

"Mia or Piers?"

A short pause. "Piers could still be in the meeting; Mia shouldn't be _too_ busy with that boy Ivan found."

The boy in Garet's arm shifted uncomfortably. "Can you put me down?"

Garet shook his head. "Your leg's hurt, you shouldn't walk on it."

"Hypocrite."

"Am not," Garet shot back.

"Come to think of it, should you be carrying him if you still have poison in your system?"

"You're the one who asked me to carry him," Garet countered.

"No, it's okay, I can walk."

Jenna gave the boy a stern look. "You're not walking by yourself."

Garet stiffled a snort. "So if I keep on carrying him I'm a hypocrite but you won't allow him to walk. Does that mean you're the one to carry him?"

"Nah." Jenna waved her hand dismissively. "We're near Mia's house now anyway," she said with a smirk.

"You just don't want to carry him."

"I can hear and understand both of you, you know," the boy said peevishly.

Jenna and Garet blushed. "Sorry."

"Sorry."

"We kind of get into our own world when we start bickering - it's turned into a bit of a habit," Jenna tried to explain. "We've been doing this since we were young.

"Well, we're here," Garet proclaimed, stopping at a door. Jenna had the door open and was about to walk though when the three of them heard a shout.

"_There_ you are!" They saw Mia and Ivan hurrying towards them.

"Hi Mia. You know him then?" Jenna asked.

"Yes." She turned to the boy, her mouth a thin line. "I told you that you weren't supposed to move around yet," she said sternly.

"That isn't why I'm carrying him; we found him near the cave near Kraden's house," Garet said, defending the boy in his arms.

Jenna nodded in confirmation. "He had a wound that looked like it was caused by a Vermin. It's nearly closed now but..."

Mia nodded. "I'll take a look."

As they walked in, Garet asked a question. "How's that boy Ivan found?"

Ivan blinked at him blankly. "You're holding him." He was? Oh, this was...

"Django, why did you leave?"

"I needed to recharge."

Mia's forehead creased in confusion. "If you needed to recharge why were you moving about?"

Django avoided everyone's gaze. "It," -a swallow- "it doesn't matter."

The four Adepts shared a look with each other.

"Can you put me down now?"

Garet looked to Mia and she nodded. He took him to her room and laid him out on the bed. He watched as Mia used the familiar healing Psynergy and then motion to Ivan as Django opened his mouth to asked a question.

"_Sleep_," Ivan commanded.

Django shuddered, obviously fighting the Psynergy, before succumbing to it.

Mia checked to see if he was really asleep; he was. She ushered the two men out and shut the door behind her.

"He's okay now?" Jenna asked.

Mia nodded. "I'm not sure completely how his health is so I asked Ivan to put him to sleep just in case." She turned to the wind Adept. "When you were using Psynergy on him, did it feel different from what it normally was?"

Ivan was quiet for a small while as he thought it over. "Yeah, it was harder to do than if I was using it on wild monsters."

"Like he was resisting it?" Mia probed.

His response was a nod.

"You think he's an Adept," Jenna realised.

"I do," Mia confirmed. "You saw that he could see _Ply_ - you can't do that unless you're an Adept."

Garet shrugged. "Okay, with Alchemy and Psynergy released, more people can become Adepts."

"Have you ever seen someone with his kind of features before?" Mia asked. "Or his clothes?"

"No," Garet admitted.

"We don't know where he's from, he's confused and has amnesia - he thinks he's from a place called San Miguel. I've checked our map, there's no such place."

"So we can't take him home," Jenna said sadly, remembering the promise she had made.

"Not until we find out where him home _is_."

* * *

:D I no longer have school so updates could/should become faster. :) If I don't get a game to distract me.. 


	4. The Start of a Search

X3 Jenna hijacked everything before I could stop her.

Ah, the dreaded mass meeting of people has arrived! At least I did a little bit of damage control...

* * *

**An Age Old Problem**

By Dark Ice Dragon

The Start of a Search

* * *

"What's on your mind?"

"Hmm?" Isaac and Piers were sitting mostly in silence on the riverbank, in the shade of a tree. They were watching the sky at it changed to cooler colours, showing that dusk was fast approaching.

"Is there something wrong?" Piers clarified.

Isaac tilted his head in thought, mulling it over. "Yes. The new monsters but they're bothering everyone else." Isaac knew what Piers was asking but he wasn't sure if he wanted to answer it. If he _did _answer, would Piers agree with him or would he want to stay in Vale to protect its people?

Piers prodded a little further. "So it's something more specific?"

"Hmm," Isaac confirmed, nodding his head. "I'm thinking of leaving Vale for a while," he said finally. He knew that Piers wanted to go home and saying that would be like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey. It would give a nice excuse why he wanted to leave and not seem rude about it as Isaac was the one to say that he was leaving first. Piers had also not had that much peace from coming to Vale as he was frequently called to see the village elders because of his knowledge, experience and older years. Isaac wanting to leave would give him a chance at peace for a while.

Piers didn't answer straight away. Isaac waited, listening to the river in front of them and the wind above. "Where do you think you'll go?" he asked, brushing the stray strands of his hair back behind his ears before they blew into his face.

Isaac shrugged, not looking at him. "I promised a few people that I would see them again if I could. After that," -a small pause- "I guess it would all depend on how I was feeling." So many people he had said that he'd see when he had the chance to, yet he hadn't. He had been too busy getting home as fast as possible to see if there was anything left after the rising of the Golden Sun. He had seen that everything was fine, the original Vale was gone but no-one was hurt. It had been slowly rebuilt but then the monsters appeared, again halting him from doing what he wanted.

"I see." The wind was becoming more boisterous the longer they sat there and while Isaac's hair wasn't that much trouble, Piers started to go everywhere.

"Do you think you'll want to come?" Isaac asked, fully knowing what Piers' response would be.

Piers lowered his eyes, thinking the question over. "I would like more time."

Nodding, Isaac said, "I understand. I'm not pressuring you to come; you can stay if you want."

"Thank you, but with the growing number of monsters in the area..." Piers trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence.

"I know. That's why I'm not sure about leaving yet either."

"Ah."

:-:-:

Jenna glanced at the chair. Garet was still there, sleeping off the effects of the poison. She wasn't sure how he was able to sleep when he was sitting in that position and she was sure he was going to feel it when he woke up. Jenna shrugged - if he wanted to sleep like than then she wasn't going to stop him.She looked back at the world map spread out on the table and moved the candle so that she could see it better.

"He didn't have anything with him apart from what he's wearing and he didn't look like he'd been travelling for long," she said softly to herself, repeating Ivan's words. "So that means he's probably from somewhere close by. Vault, Lunpa, Kalay, Bilibin -I suppose- and maybe Tolbi," she said, pointing to each one as she said their names.

"It can't be Vault or Kalay," Ivan reasoned. "I've been in each of them for some time and I've never seen him before."

Jenna nodded to show that she had heard him, her attention still on the map in front of her. "Right, so that leaves Lunpa, Tolbi and Bilibin. How are we going to find out where he's from?"

Ivan shrugged. "We could do what Tolbi's guardsmen did when they were looking for Babi: ask with a picture. I don't think there is any other way."

"Do you think you would use _Mind Read_ on Django?" Jenna asked curiously, glancing up to look Ivan in the eyes.

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "I can only read surface thoughts - I can't delve deeper than that. If he believes he's from this 'San Miguel', that's all I'll see," he explained

"Oh." She sighed in disappointment. "Lunpa, Bilibin and Tolbi. This is going to take a while..." Her voice was tinged with dismay at the task in front of her.

"I know," Ivan agreed, reflecting her tone. "It would be faster is we did this in groups and probably at the same time."

Jenna nodded. She thought about the people who was likely to not be able to help for various reasons. "Garet probably shouldn't come in case the poison is still affecting him," she said, quickly sending a fleeting look over her shoulder to see if he was still sleeping, unable to hear her comment - he was.

"Piers might have been asked to do something for the elders," Ivan added.

"And Mia, I think, has another patient here," Jenna finished. "So, who does that leave us with?"

"Me, you, Isaac, Felix, and Sheba," Ivan listed off after a brief pause.

"Hmm," Jenna hummed. "That means someone's going to be asking people by themselves." Not that that was a problem, but it would just be better if there was someone there for 'back-up' if they needed it.

"Well, we aren't completely sure about Piers," Ivan argued.

"That's true," Jenna admitted. The meeting that he had been called to should have already finished by then, it was just if he had been asked to do something for them afterwards that was the thing. "We're going to have to find him and the others to see if they're busy and can help us."

Ivan rolled up the map but left it on the table, making sure that it wasn't too close to the candle incase it caught fire. "I'll go find Piers and then see who else I can find."

"Right. I'll meet you back here." They both headed for the door.

:-:-:

"Sheba?" Sheba looked up, and saw that Felix was walking towards her. "What's bothering you?"

"Hi Felix," she said, smiling tiredly up at him. "It's nothing really. Have you met that boy that Ivan found?" she asked when he had stopped by her side.

"Django?" Felix asked for conformation. Sheba nodded. "I've seen him but he was asleep then."

"Oh."

Felix looked closely at her after her strange response. "Oh? You've talked to him?" he asked, wondering how she could have done that when he should have still been in bed, asleep.

Sheba nodded again. "A little while ago. He'd left Mia's house without her knowing so I followed him to make sure that he didn't hurt himself again."

"You did?" Felix looked around but couldn't see Django anywhere. "I don't see him."

"I stopped following him after I talked to him," Sheba explained. "Some things that he said..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "They didn't make any sense. But, they did at the same time. But that would also mean..." she trailed off again and didn't say anything else.

Felix waited for a moment to go by before he spoke up. "Sheba, unlike you, I'm not a Jupiter Adept; I can't read minds so for to know what you're thinking, you're going to have to tell me out loud," he joked lightly.

Sheba blinked upon hearing the words. "Sorry about that," she said, cheek colouring slightly.

"It's alright," Felix said, waving the apology away. "So what were you thinking about?"

"We've travelled all over Weyard haven't we?"

"Yees."

"We've seen all that there is to see?"

"Yes," Felix answered again, wondering where the questions were leading.

"We know what is real and what is still myth and legend?"

"Yes. Sheba, _why_ are you asking me this?" Felix asked, the questions piquing his curiosity.

"Because, because Django thinks that vampires really exist. The way that he said it, it was like he had faced one before. When I said that I'd never heard of vampires or immortals he was stunned and that was about the time he left," she said in a rush.

"The only immortal I can think of is the Wise One," Felix mused. "And maybe the guardians of the stronger summon stones. You shouldn't worry about what he said," he said, directing the last sentence to Sheba.

Sheba looked at him in surprise. "Why not?"

"Mia suspects that he'd hit his head at some point and that muddled up a few things up here," he said, tapping his temple. "He apparently said that he was from 'San Miguel'."

"So what he said-" Sheba started doubtfully.

"Are as you originally thought: they're not true. He believes that they're real but they're not."

"Does he know that?" Felix saw the concern for him she had from the set of her brow and the small frown that formed.

He looked at her. "He thinks that what he's said is true, why would he think otherwise?"

"But..." Sheba sighed resignedly. "Never mind." She started to pick herself up and Felix offered his hand to help. She took it and was standing when they heard someone calling them.

"Ah, found someone." Felix and Sheba turned their heads to see Jenna making her way closer to them. "Are you two busy?"

They shook their heads.

"Good. I need your help with something, do you want to help?"

:-:-:

"I'm surprised you haven't asked me about what I was summoned for," Piers commented, playing with a blade of grass in his hands.

Isaac shrugged, having a little difficulty as he was leaning on his hands. "The elders called for your specifically. If it was something that the rest of us were supposed to know about they would have asked for us to be there at the same time."

"I suppose that is a fair point." There was a sudden gust of wind that snatched the grass from Piers' hand. He made no move to take another.

They sat in silence for a small while, enjoying one another's company before they heard running footsteps going towards them. Looking up, they both saw that it was Ivan.

"Good, I found you," he said in relief, slowing down. "Piers, did the elders ask you to do something?"

Piers shook his head. "Not something that I couldn't do later. Why do you ask?"

Ivan smiled. "Okay. Jenna and I are trying to find out where Django's -the boy that I found- hometown is. He doesn't know so Jenna decided that we'd try to find it." He paused to catch his breath. "We narrowed it down to Lunpa, Bilibin and Tolbi. Isaac, can you help as well?" he asked, turning towards him.

He nodded.

"Thanks. Okay, we need to go to Mia's house to see if Jenna's found the others."

:-:-:

"Do you know who would be going with who?" Sheba asked as she flattened the map on the table, making sure she didn't knock the candle over accidently.

Jenna shook her head and placed her hands on the table. "No, but I know who I _don't_ want paired with each other if Piers is able to come."

Sheba grinned upon hearing the sentence. "Isaac and Felix."

Felix started at the mention of his name. "Me? Why?"

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Because, you and Isaac don't normally talk a lot to strangers and let other people do the talking for you. On this," she said, tapping the map, "you're going to have to _talk_ to people - just showing a picture of Django won't be helpful."

Her brother frowned at her. "If I show a picture of him it should be obvious that I'm looking to see if that person recognises him."

"Not really," Sheba interrupted. "You could be showing it because you're trying to find him." A small pause. "Or that he's your brother and you like showing his picture to strangers."

"And looking intimidating won't help either," Jenna chimed in.

"Okay, okay, we don't talk much, I get it now," Felix said exasperatedly. "You can stop with the teasing now."

Just then the front door openned to reveal Ivan, Piers and Isaac.

"Is that everyone here?" Ivan asked as he entered. "I saw Mia and she said that she wouldn't be able to come."

"That's everyone then," Jenna said. Garet had been moved to the spare room incase the others woke him. "We'll be in three groups of two. We aren't sure who goes with who but if we're going to be asking people, Isaac and Felix shouldn't be paired with each other."

The statement was met with varying degrees of agreement with an additional voice protesting.

"I'll go with Jenna," Felix volunteered amongst the semi-quiet. "You said that I'd be intimidating but someone has to stop you pressing people too hard," he said, ruffling her hair.

Jenna huffed and tried to bat his hand away in response.

"So..." The remaining four glanced at each other. "How do we decided the rest of the pairs?"

"Flipping a coin isn't going to help," Ivan commented.

"I believe I can help," Piers said quietly. "As Jenna said, she didn't want the quiet people being paired together and I sometimes see myself as that when compared to the rest of you. This means that Isaac and I shouldn't be together. Ivan," he said, looking towards him, "now you can flip a coin to see if you will be with me or Isaac."

"That works," Ivan mumbled as he dug into his tunic to find a coin. "Okay, so, heads mean I go with Isaac and tails means I go with Piers." He flipped the coin and let it fall to the ground. It hit the ground with a _'thunk'_. "Tails. Looks like I'm with you Piers," he said as he picked the coin up from the floor.

"And I'm with you," Sheba said to Isaac.

He nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "I know."

"Now that we have that sorted out, does anyone have any preferences to go to either Lunpa, Bilibin or Tolbi?" Jenna asked, looking at each of them in turn.

Isaac spoke up. "I want to go to Tolbi, if that's alright with you Sheba."

She shrugged non-committedly. "It doesn't make a difference to me."

"I probably shouldn't go to Lunpa because people might recognise me from the time that Master Hammet was rescued," Ivan said.

"Well," Jenna started, "me and Felix weren't with you when that happened so we'll go there."

"Which leaves Bilibin for us," Piers said.

"We should start in the morning and not right away," Felix mused. He continued before Jenna could protest. "The sun is setting and people will be heading for home now. They won't like being disturbed in their own homes. Not to mention, do we have a picture of Django to show?"

A small pause. "I thought I might have forgotten something," Jenna muttered. She then sighed. "I guess so. We'll start in the morning then after I've found someone to draw Django."

The others moved to go to the door, all of them saying goodnight to one another.

The door closed. There was no one there to see the candle on the table flicker with a red and black flame before turning back to orange.

* * *

Much use of Hmm and okay. Ack. 

Hopefully the next chapter will be longer.

Whoops, Isaac wasn't meant to sound ... weird in the last scene like that. Didn't want him to sound sarcastic and this is how he ends up. (grumble)


	5. Seaching for What?

Sorry for the wait. I had some other stuff to worry about. Like what university I'm going to be going to.

Oh, and I added more stuff to the last chapter. Just so you know.

Anyways, hope you enjoy.

* * *

**An Age Old Problem**

By Dark Ice Dragon

Searching for What?

* * *

Ivan called out to a woman as she walked past him. "Hello, excuse me, have you seen this boy before?" he asked, holding up a picture of Django for her too see.

The woman took two seconds to briefly glance at the picture and then shook her head without slowing down or stopping. She was nearly immediately lost again in the mass of surrounding bodies.

Ivan was fast getting used to this. Bilibin was fairly busy (maybe not as much as Kalay but still...) and its people were seemingly always on the move. What Ivan didn't know was that when they had broken Tret's curse on Kolima it created more trade in Bilibin as it soon became a go-between for Imil and Kolima for trading. Now that Ivan thought about it, Bilibin was larger than the last time he had visited; McCoy must have been pleased with that development. He looked up when he felt a hand squeeze his shoulder.

"Maybe we should enquire where people are in less of a rush," Piers suggested, eyes scanning for an appropriate place to move to.

Nodding in agreement, Ivan started to walk towards where he was fairly sure the inhabited houses were, leaving the bustling market streets behind while Piers followed after him.

Ivan tried to speak to another person while on the move but the person brushed by him, completely ignoring him. He sighed, and then focused on the thought of where the houses were. '_This is going to be a long day..._'

:-:-:

The man eyed Jenna with suspicion as she showed him a picture of Django.

"No," he said curtly, "I've never seen him in my life. Why are you asking?"

"Well, we found him and we just want to get him back to his family," Jenna said, answering his question carefully.

The man snorted. "The people of Lunpa do not leave often - not after Dodonpa." He sneered. "He tarnished what Lunpa was and-" Stopping himself was talking further, the man shook his head angrily and walked away.

Jenna and Felix exchanged glances, conveying their confusion and dismay to each other.

They didn't realise that they were surrounded by guards until someone behind them spoke to them.

"You're to come with us."

Surveying the area around them and searching for possible exits, Jenna found none. If she and her brother tried to resist, the people around them could get hurt unintentionally.

Sighing, Jenna relaxed from her attacking stance and saw that Felix had already done the same. Nodding in relief, the guard who had spoken motioned for them to follow.

:-:-:

Isaac stared at the stairs in front of him with trepidation. Sheba was standing next to him, unsure as to what to do. They had asked a few people about Django but so far, the results had been negative. Isaac had carefully steered Sheba to where they were without her fully knowing: at the bottom of a set of stairs that wound up to lead to Babi Palace. Sheba couldn't see it since the trees and high cliffs obscured most of her view but what peaked from above the tress said that it was impressive.

Did Isaac know who lived in there? Sheba wondered. He had to, if he had gone to Lemuria for Babi.

Babi. He had held her hostage so that her father would make sure that Babi Lighthouse was built.

And then she was taken from him by Saturos and Menardi. From there she learned more about herself and that she wasn't as strange and alone as she had previously thought. There were others like her, people who had the ability to change the world around them. That knowledge had eased some of her worries.

Sheba turned her head to face Isaac when he took a hesitant first step onto the stairs. Half pivoting to look back to Sheba, Isaac said to her, "You don't have to come if you don't want to. I'm not dragging you along with me."

Glancing back at what was visible of the palace Sheba shook her head. "I'll come." She took a deep breath before continuing. "It happened and I can't change the past. Anyway, we'll have the rest of the day to ask about Django won't we?"

Isaac had a gentle smile on his face. "Yeah, I'm not sure how long this could take though," he warned.

"If we found Django's family after one day of searching we would call that a miracle wouldn't we?" Sheba countered, trying to ignore the flare of pain in her heart. "We're not expecting something so fast but we're trying to do what we can."

Isaac took another step up on the stairs. "Let's go then."

:-:-:

Django woke up with a start. He waited for a few moments to re-orientate himself with his surroundings and to remember what had happened. Lifting up the covers off of his body and peering at his leg showed that it was completely healed. The only evidence that there had ever been a wound was a light scar that showed up against his tanned skin.

Tracing over it absentmindedly (it was just another scar to add to the collection after all) Django thought over what had happened after the healing of it. The blond boy had ordered him to sleep and even though Django wasn't feeling sleepy, he felt his eyelids become heavier and a sudden need to yawn. Just before he drifted off, Django was sure that he'd sensed something coming from the boy. It felt like when Mia or the red-haired girl had used that psynergy on him. Maybe that was another thing that 'psynergy' could do.

The feeling of that psynergy was different from the other two though. Now that he was thinking about it, they each felt different from each other. It could be that psynergy was different for every person; it was unique to whoever wielded it.

So many people with power. If the Undeadening curse were to reach here (wherever 'here' was)... Each person could potentially be a Crimson Monster level if they survived. Django stopped his train of thought - it wasn't good to dwell on the 'what could happen'.

Looking out the window, Django saw that it was morning. So how long had he been sleeping? And how much of yesterday had been spent asleep anyway, he thought with a wince. A lot.

Django's stomach contracted painfully. He was suddenly aware _just_ how empty it was, not to mention the dryness of his throat. The last time he remembered eating or drinking was... before he went to the Catacombs. That had been practically a day ago.

How was he going to find something to eat?

:-:-:

Jenna and Felix followed the guard through the twisting tunnels. Felix had tried to memorise the way back but there were far too many doors, stairs and passageways that it became confusing after a while just trying to keep track of all of them. He also supposed that Jenna was amusing herself considering how the guard's torch was moving eratically and her fixed gaze on it.

The guard came to a stop outside a door. After knocking, he turned to Jenna and Felix and waved them inside.

It was a bedroom, a rather small bedroom. There was only enough room for a bed and a bed-side table. And the bed was occupied. The man was old, _very_ old. Wrinkles were permanently etched into his features and although he looked like he still had all his hair, it was grey with a few streaks of white showing through. Felix saw the walking stick propped up against the bed-post and wasn't surprised.

The man had been sitting up, reading a book when they had entered. Looking up from it he nodded to the guard who left instantly, closing the door as softly as possible. The man put the book on the bed-side table.

"I'm sorry to have had you brought here," the man started, his voice a little raspy but not as weak as Felix expected it to be, "but after hearing of your search I was intrigued." He paused, considering his words. "Not a lot of people come to Lunpa anymore. They are afraid that we are little more than bandits now and the ones who _do_ come are deterred by the barricade and armed guards." Jenna and Felix were given a pointed look. "The last time someone had come here was some time ago; a merchant doing his business, and a group of four Adepts."

Jenna and Felix stiffened, hoping that it wasn't noticeable and hoping that the man didn't know what they were. Their weapons had been taken off them when they reached the fortress entrance but they still had their Psynergy. But if they used it, the man would know that they were Adepts for sure. And leaving the room to get away would mean getting lost in the tunnels almost certainly.

The door swung open and a woman stalked in, a scowl on her face. "Donpa, you should be resting, not entertaining guests," she fussed as she tidied up his covers.

Donpa? Felix frowned at the name. He'd heard that name somewhere before... _'And Donpa... He is my son...'_ He'd heard it in Lemuria, from Lunpa. It was a disquieting thought. The son was old and near the end of his time on Weyard while the father was still strong enough to kick down doors and to run around.

Donpa shook his head. "I have rested enough today." The woman finished with the bed and then looked up to study his face. What she saw must have pleased her because she gave way.

"Don't wear him out," she warned to Jenna and Felix as she passed by them.

When the door closed Donpa began to speak again. "From what I could see of the west passageway, only Adepts could get through." He paused again, expecting them to respond in some way. When they didn't, Donpa continued, "This all points to at least one of you being an Adept. All I want to know is if you know of an Adept by the name Isaac?"

Felix saw Jenna glance at him, wondering how to respond. "We do," Felix confirmed. "We know of him. Why are you asking?"

Donpa relaxed, smiling. "The next time you see him, tell him that I wish to thank him again for his help and that I would like to see him one more time before I die. Could you tell him that?"

Hesitantly, Felix nodded.

"Thank you." His request asked, Donpa settled back under the covers. "The guards will escort you back to the outside.

"Okay." They left while Donpa started to read again.

:-:-:

Isaac looked up at the flickering flames that illuminated the hallway. What the light fell upon was a portrait of Babi sitting on top of what seemed like his chair in the audience room. His expression was serious and Isaac felt like the painting could really see him.

_'I failed you,'_ Isaac thought somberly. '_I swore that I would bring the draught of Lemuria back to you. We hadn't even joined up with the others when we heard rumours of your death. We weren't allowed to take any drought from Lemuria and it was by then that we realised that we couldn't go back._

'The tidal wave that came soon after we set sail also brought with it turbulent currents that made it impossible to sail though. Maybe if-'

"Isaac? Isaac, is that you?" Isaac turned around to see Iodem hurrying towards him. "I don't believe it, we saw lights arcing through the sky but-" He stopped when he spied Sheba standing beside him. His eyes widened and his speech became an awed whisper. "We thought you had died; we weren't able to find your body but for you to survive such a drop..." Iodem glanced away but quickly looked back. "I should not have doubted your father; Faran said that you would survive as you had been in such situations before."

"What has happened to Lalivero?" Sheba asked quietly.

Iodem became subdued by the question. "They have broken a lot of ties with Tolbi, with good reason. We were responsible for you and you were captured by Saturos' group."

"There was nothing more violent?"

A shake of the head. "No. After Babi died, quite a lot of tension left."

Isaac fidgeted. "Iodem..." He waited for the man's attention before he fished something out of his tunic. "I... I said that I would only be borrowing this." in his hands he held out the Cloak Ball.

Ioden carefully took the Cloak Ball out of Isaac's hands. He stared at it for a few seconds before closing his eyes and shaking his head. "I cannot take this," he said and gave it back to Isaac.

"But -"

"No." Iodem shook his head again. "I am not the rightful owner of it. And I have no use for it; I am not an Adept nor do I know how to control it. If it is still needed by you then you should keep it."

Staring at the Cloak Ball in silence, Isaac then pocketed it with a murmured thanks.

"Is that the only reason why you came here?" Iodem asked.

Sheba shook her head. Unfurling the scroll in her hand, she showed it to Iodem. "Have you seen this boy before?"

Iodem studied the picture before sighing in defeat. "I do not but I wouldn't be the best person to ask. I spend a vast majority of my time in the palace."

"Okay, thanks anyway. I guess we'd better leave now then." Isaac and Sheba turned to leave.

"Sheba?" She paused and tilted her head at Iodem. "Please return to Lalivero sometime in the future. Your parents have been worrying ever since you were taken by Babi," he said quietly.

Sheba turned away. "I know."

:-:-:

Django mused over his predicament. Maybe he should just wait for Mia to come. But he didn't know when she would be back. But if he left, considering his recent luck he would either end up unconscious (again) or one of his arms would be injured this time. Maybe there was food in the house. But it wasn't _his_.

He had a feeling that he could be staying in 'his' room trying to decide what to do for some time.

* * *

Hmm, I personally don't think that Babi is dead. I just think it was Alex being mean but I'm keeping it like how it is. 


	6. Something Unexpected

Sorry for the wait but I've just started uni. An essay pretty much once a week and the reading for each class can be a bit...big. Well, with that happening, I'm not going to update as fast as I used to since I don't really have the time to anymore. Not to mention, like I keep on saying, I've got other fics to try to keep on writing. To the person who keeps on bugging me about not updating quickily, well, uni is more important than writing to me at the moment. Hope that clears it up.

So, about the fic. I spent quite a bit of time over it and I've hopefully caught all the typos and mistakes. If not, please tell me. It goes back in time a little bit but it shouldn't be _that_ bad. On the upside, it's longer.

So enjoy.

* * *

**An Age Old Problem**

By Dark Ice Dragon

Something Unexpected

* * *

Garet tiredly rubbed the side of his neck with a loose fist as he walked towards Mia's house. After the rest that he'd had the day before, he was finally feeling better from the effects of the poison. He had woken up relatively late and after reading the note that had been left by the others, he checked up on Django. The boy seemed to be sleeping easily so Garet had closed the door as quietly as he could and then left the house.

He had then walked around Vale for a short while to clear his head before going to get something to eat for himself and Django. He'd met a few people, talked to them but kept on walking.

As he chewed on the apple in his hand, Garet wondered how long it would take for the others to come back. Depending on what happened, they could come back within the hour or stay where they were for the rest of the day. It was only the first day for looking for Django's home so they would be extremely lucky they were able to find Django's family or home so quickly.

As he pushed the door open, Garet blinked at the candle sitting at the centre of the table in mild surprise. He had seen it flicker red and black for a second before it returned to its normal colour. Garet stood at the doorway, staring at it, wondering if he'd imagined it. He rubbed his eyes with the back a hand but when he looked at it again, the candle remained orange. Garet shrugged with a sigh, dismissing what he had seen. It looked like he wasn't completely free of the poison since he was still halucinating. Maybe he could ask Mia if she could completely cure him of poison later the next time he saw her.

Garet dropped what was left of the apple in the bin before heading towards the spare room. He opened the door slowly so not to wake Django up, just in case, but when he saw that the boy was awake, he pushed it as he normally would. Django was propped up on his pillow, leaning on the headboard as he played with the covers with his unarmoured arm. He gave Garet a small smile when he saw him.

Garet returned the gesture. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he walked up to the boy on the bed.

"Hungry," was Django's simple reply. His eyes had stayed on the bowl in Garet's hand as soon as he had seen it.

The redhead's smile widened to become a grin. "Sounds like you're feeling better if you've got your appetite back." He handed the bowl of fruit to Django.

Django took the bowl carefully from him and smiled a little at Garet again in thanks before he started to eat. It was quiet for a while apart fom the crunch of fruit being eaten. While Garet waited for Django to finish, he sat down on an available chair and pulled it towards 'Django's' bed. He noticed as he watched him eat was that Django was eating all of the apples first and nothing else. There was no conversation as Garet wasn't sure what to say to him and thought that it was probably best that he at ate what he could straight away. There was a pause when all of the apples were finished.

"Is there something wrong?" Garet asked Django when he saw him looking puzzled at something clutched in his hand.

Django nodded but didn't take his eyes off of his own hand. "What's this?" He held up what was in his hand so that Garet could see it easier. Django waited expectantly for Garet's answer.

Garet frowned slightly when he saw what it was. Django was from a place further away than they thought. "It's an orange."

"An orange?" Django repeated in a confused tone, his eyebrows furrowed together. He glanced back at the object in his hand. "Well, I can see that. But what is it?"

Garet shook his head. "That _is_ what it's called." Seeing the lingering doubt, Garet nodded. "You peel it to eat the insides - like a banana." He stopped trying to explain, wondering if Django would know what a banana was.

Django perked at the word banana. "Aah! Okay, I understand now." Without any direction from Garet, he started to peel the skin. Garet thought about telling Django about the orange pieces but when Django saw the inside, he peeled the peices from each other and didn't have any further trouble with it. When he finished, he looked up at Garet again. "Thanks."

Garet waved a hand dismissively at the thanks. "It's okay." There were a few more minutes of relative silence as Django continued to eat.

After Django had had his fill of the fruit, he placed the bowl on the side-table that Garet was half leaning on from his chair.

"Do you think you're able to walk around?" Garet asked Django when he had settled back on his pillow.

Django looked up at him in surprise. Probably remembering Mia's reaction the last time he had gone out, Garet thought with sympathy. Garet smiled at him good-humouredly. "Mia's going to check up on you soon," he informed Django, "so if that's what you're worried about, don't be."

Just as he said those words, Garet turned his head to hear the creak of a door opening. He turned his head back to Django. "See? She's already here."

There was a small pause as they listened to the soft footsteps approach the room and then the door to 'Django's' room opened to show Mia. She bustled in and before Garet knew it, he was out of the room and hearing the door close. He settled into one of the chairs to wait for Mia's verdict. He didn't think that it would take very long.  


  
:-:-:

Ivan looked up at the tall buildings, not completely sure what to do next. He and Piers could go up to the houses and knock on their doors to ask the owners about Django or they could do what they had been doing before and just ask anyone who passed by them. That hadn't been particularly successful with the second one and now, it was more deserted than the marketplace.

"Wait..." Ivan heard Piers' quiet command and stopped. He turned around to look at his friend. Piers had stopped walking a little while behind him and he was moving his head from side to side, as if he was trying to hear something properly. "Did you hear that?" Piers asked him, not focusing on Ivan.

Tilting his head slightly, Ivan waited to see if whatever-the-sound-was would repeat itself. Just as he was about to shake his head and deny that he could hear anything unusual, Ivan heard it: a rustle in the bushes. But it was too large to be a monster that could have slipped in unnoticed by anyone, Ivan realised. When Piers started to move purposly towards a line of bushed Ivan followed him.

Piers cautiously parted the bushes but there wasn't anything there. He moved a little further down the line and repeated his previous action.

A boy.

He was young. He looked like his was sleeping and in the middle of a nightmare if the scrunched up expression was any indication. He had black hair and his pale complexion was beaded with sweat that moved in little streams down his face. Just then, he gave a moaned a little bit.

Piers knelt down beside the boy and put two fingers next to a small wound that Ivan hadn't noticed straight away. Gently, Piers stretched the wound and seemed to be satisified when the wound didn't reopen. He nodded to himself before he moved his hand so that it was hovering over the wound and cast _Ply_. The boy was bathed in blue Psynergetic light as the Psynergy did its work. When Piers pulled his hand away, the two puncture marks were gone though it seemed like there was still some faint scarring there. When Ivan looked at the boy's face, it was no longer creased and was more peaceful.

"I'm not sure that I've seen a wound like that before," Piers admitted quietly, looking at the boy's neck where the wound had been.

Ivan replied, matching Piers' quiet tone. "I have, but I've never seen it on the neck before." He paused, trying to remember what he could. "It looks like a Bat bite. There are less teeth this time but it looks the same. If it was a small Bat, I guess that could be undestandable."

Piers was silent with the knowledge of new information. "Are there any side-effects to their bite?" he asked, still kneeling next to the boy. He checked to make sure that there weren't any other wounds that he'd missed.

Ivan nodded. "There are two. Some of their bites can poison and I've heard that sometimes, it can drive their prey mad. That's either really rare or just a story that I was told. It hadn't happened to us when we were travelling across Weyard." He shrugged to say he didn't know completely.

"I see." Piers' attention was diverted when the boy began to stir. "How are you feeling?" he asked quietly when the boy's eyes fluttered open.

The boy's eyes snapped open upon hearing Piers' voice. He looked up at Piers a little fearfully. His eyes were clear and didn't seem to be tired or misty. "I'm feeling fine." He sat up, leaning back on his hands, and edged away slightly from the two Adepts. Piers didn't try to close the gap between the two of them.

"No dizziness? Nausea?" Piers prodded gently.

The boy shook his head, his slightly long hair moving of their own accord.

"Is your home nearby?"

He nodded, keeping his eyes on Piers' golden ones.

"Can you get home by yourself?"

Again he nodded, still not saying a word.

Piers nodded. "Okay." He stood up and took a step away from the boy. The two Adepts watched as the boy got up quickly and sped off without looking back at them.  


  
:-:-:

The afternoon was a bit warmer than earlier, Garet noted, but that was to be expected since the sun was higher up in the sky. Django was walking beside him, his eyes darting from place to place. Garet noticed that the longest time his eyes rested were on the inhabitants of Vale. Django didn't seem to realise that Garet was watching him from the corner of his eyes. It was as if Django wasn't used to seeing a lot of people in one place. Maybe his hometown didn't have a lot of people in it and not a lot of travelleers passed through it either.

Mia had told him that Django was much better than what he had been yesterday but he shouldn't do anything too streneous as he'd been going in and out of her house since he'd arrived. Django needed to exercise his leg though, to make sure that it was alright - which was why they were walking.

"Garet!" The two turned at the sound of the voice. Garet recognised the girl as one of children who had ran up to him and Isaac as they left Vale for the first time. She was running up to them, her face red with the exertion of running.

"Tess? What's wrong?" Garet asked her as she tried to catch her breath.

Still taking deep breaths, Tess shook her head. She grabbed the sleeve of Garet's tunic and tried to drag him in the direction that she had come from. "Hurry up! There's a monster just outside the town entrance!" The words tumbled breathlessly out of her mouth but they still understood what she said.

Garet gasped and his eyes widened. "Damnit," he muttered under his breath. He took Tess' hand and stopped her clutching at his tunic. He looked into her eyes, making sure she was paying attention to him. "Okay. Tess, stay here." He turned to glance at Django. "You too, Django." He was about to start running when he heard Django's reply:

"No."

Turning his head to look at Django, Garet could see the determination in his eyes. Garet said sternly to him, "There's no time for this - you're staying here. You'll get hurt again if you come." He didn't wait for another reply or to see the expression on Django's face before he turned and started running towards the town entrance.  


  
:-:-:

Garet arrived at the town clearing slightly out of breath. It was deserted; the people were mostly in their homes because they knew how futile it was to fight the newer monsters. That was was why Tess had gone to him and no-one else.

Carefully, he made his way to the town exit. He could see the monster clearly when he reached it: it was the monster made out of black rock. It had a spherical body and it seemed to know when there was something behind it. When it knew that there was something close to it, it would roll up into a ball and doggedly chase whatever was near it.

Only two things stopped it: attacking it physically (if you were able to get that close) and the town entrance. No-one could understand why, but the monsters never came closer than the town entrance; it was as if there was a barrier keeping them out. It wasn't a bad thing but no-one knew if or when that barrier would fall. So it was preferable if they kept the monsters away from the barrier if the barrier only had a limited source of energy.

Garet stood there, hiding behind the entrance pillars, watching the monster lumber up when it swerved slightly so that it wasn't heading straight for the entrance anymore. Standing there, it relieved him a bit to see that because he realised what it was that he had forgotten: his axe. He'd left it at home because he normally wouldn't need to carry it around when he was moving around in Vale. There would have been no need to.

It didn't matter, really. He was better off using his Psynergy at a distance with that kind of monster, even though it wasn't affected by it that much. Taking a step forward, Garet was yanked back suddenly by someone grabbing his arm and pulling him back behind the entrance pillar.

It was Django.

"You can't do that!" Django whispered furiously. "It'll see you."

"I know it will!" Garet whispered back. "I _have_ to do something though." He stopped when he realised who he was talking to. "And I thought I told you to stay where you were."

"So that's why you were about to step into a puddle?" Django asked a little scorn colouring his words while he pointed to a puddle that was at Garet's feet. It had been raining heavily very heavily the night before and there were still a few pools of water left. "I can't let you fight it alone," he added lowly.

Garet looked down at it and then quickly looked up again at Django. He glanced at the monster and gauged how far it was away from them. "It can't hear us from that distance."

Django shook his head. "You would be surprised by how much they can hear."

"Okay," Garet said, the doubtful tone obvious in his voice along with a slightly confused look on his face. How did Django know that about that monster? It would explain how that monster knew when there were something behind it but they had tried to sneak up on it and it still knew that they were there.

The new kind of monsters had only appeared recently yet Django seemed to act like he was an expert on them.

"What is it?" Maybe Django would know what it was called. And if he knew what this one was called, maybe he would know information about it and the others as well.

"It's a Golem." Django was peeking around the entrance pillar, so he didn't see Garet's look of surprise.

"I thought," -Django shushed him and waved a hand, warning him to keep his voice down- "they had all died out!"

Django nodded absentmindedly, still not looking back at Garet. "Golems are from the ancient race of giants, but because of the undeadening curse they came back."

Again, Django missed the confused look on Garet's face and Garet scratching his own head. The undeadening curse? What kind of curse was that? Since he'd travelled all over Weyard, Garet had experienced and seen his fare share of curses; he'd never heard of an undeadening curse before.

"Okay," Django muttered under his breath, not really noticing the silence and Garet knew that Django wasn't talking to him.

Garet looked across at the Golem and saw that it had its back to them. He twitched slightly when he felt a twinge of Psynergy that wasn't his being used. Django had his right arm stretched out in front of him and his hand held like it was clutching something. Garet blinked and then there was suddenly a strange weapon in Django's hand.

It looked like a very strange looking club. It was in vague L shape and the top part of that was pointed towards where the Golem was. The top part ended in an open cyliner with holes in it. Was that meant to be a weapon, Garet wondered. It didn't look like it could do a lot of damage.

He heard a click and then a second later he saw -and felt- the ball of golden Psynergy (so he was a Venus Adept? It didn't feel like it Venus energy) race towards the Golem. Before it hit it target, Django was already running towards it and easily side-stepping the puddles.

Garet tried to grab Django's scarf, tried to whisper a warning to not do anything but it was too late. He was out of reach and too far to hear his whispers. Garet scrambled after Django as he tried to avoid the puddles at the same time.

When the ball of Psynergy (it seemed more like it was Mars Psynergy because of that) hit the Golem, it didn't seem like it had been affected in any kind of way. This didn't deter Django because he kept on running without a pause.

Knowing that Django would need some help, Garet prepared to unleash some Psynergy to distract the Golem further. He went through the all of the Psynergy that he could use but found that he couldn't - there was a large chance that he would also hit Django. There wasn't something that wasn't powerful that also didn't have a large spread.

"Watch out!" Garet yelled out. The Golem had rolled into a ball and was spinning towards Django. Django dived out of the way just in time. It was then that Garet unnleashed _Volcano_. He knew that it would miss since hitting a moving target with_ Volcano_ was hard enough but when the Golem was spinning it was near impossible. Garet hoped to use it as a temporary barrier for Django and deter the monster away from the boy.

From his vantage point when the wall of flame had fallen, Garet could see Django staring at where it had been. Garet looked at the Golem which had stopped spinning and was standing again. Since it didn't have a neck it had to turn its body around completely to stare at the two humans around it. It was as if it didn't know which human to attack first.

Garet prepared another _Volcano_ when he felt felt the spark of Psynergy from Django. He looked up, his concentration gone because of his concern, and saw a strange sword in Django's hand. Before he could see it properly, there was another flash of Psynergy and Django was holding a spear. The Golem seemed to have made its mind up and was rolling itself into a ball again. Garet cast another _Volcano_ while it wasn't moving - it didn't look like it had even been hit. Garet then felt a build up of Psynergy and saw that the spear was glowing purple.

The Golem headed towards the Django but he spun his spear with practiced ease and stabbed it into the Golem.

It froze. A few second passed before it collapsed and exploded into thousands of fragments. Garet stared at the spear which still had particles of the purple energy (it didn't feel like it was Jupiter energy) falling off of it.

There was another flash of Psynergy and the spear was gone. Django wiped his forehead with the back of his hand as he scanned the landscape.

Garet did the same and was relieved to see that there were no other monsters there. "Are you hurt?" Garet asked Django as Django picked his way over to the Mars Adept.

Django shook his head. "I might have been if you hadn't been there."

"Why did you rush into a fight with it?" Garet scolded him lightly. The two of them started to walk back to the town entrance. "You could have gotten hurt again. You saw what Mia was like the last time you went back to her house hurt."

"I couldn't allow you to fight it alone," Django said, looking away.

"And I didn't want you to get hurt again," Garet said gently. Django still didn't look at him. "But thank you." This time, Django looked up at him, surprise evident in his eyes. Garet smiled at him. "It's because of you that neither of us were hurt." Garet then jerked his head towards the town entrance. "Come on. If Mia finds out that you decided to do something that could have ended in you seriously hurt, well, she won't be happy to put it mildly."

Django nodded to show that he understood while he pretended to wince and then laughed. They started to make their way back to Vale.

* * *

A bit of a sudden engind but meh. If you're interested in what the frame of the gun that I was basing it on was the Javelin. Mainly because it's one of the better frames that I've got. Haven't been playing it much. 


End file.
